NRS-13803 | Reports of the sale of land [Surveyor General]

These reports of Crown lands offered for sale at auction were made by the Colonial Treasury until 1857 and from 1858 to 1863 by the agents for the sale of Crown land, directly to the Surveyor General. The reports until November 1861 were made in accordance with the provisions of the Imperial Act 5 & 6 Vic. c.36 which provided that all Crown land in the Australian colonies should be sold at auction at a price not less than £1 per acre (Section 8). Section 6 provided that at least quarterly each year there should be held public sales by auction of waste lands of the Crown and that notice of such sales should be given by proclamation at least three months before the sales were held. The returns show in regard to each place of sale the following particulars: the name of the county, parish or town, the number of acres of land actually sold, the amount forfeited, the amount not offered or withdrawn, the upset price (20/- per acre for rural land, and 1/- per perch for town allotments), the name of the purchaser and his place of residence, the amount remitted, the amount paid on deposit on the day of the sale, and the total amount realised, the totals of amounts paid as deposit, and total amount realised are given in respect of all sales within the colony held on each day of sale. In 1861 the Crown Land Alienation Act, 24 Vic. no.1 s.23, provided that "Crown lands intended to be sold without conditions for residence and improvement shall be put up for public auction in lots not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres at such places in the Police District in which the lands are situated and at such times as the Minister shall direct to be notified by advertisement in the Gazette not less than one month nor more than three months before the date of sale. And the upset prices shall not be lower than for Town lands, Eight Pounds - Suburban lands, Two Pounds - other lands, One Pound. Provided that the upset prices may be respectively priced at any higher amounts". Section 24 provided that "Town lands and suburban lands without improvements should be sold by public auction only".(7/1231-43). 14 vols. Note: This description is extracted from Concise Guide to the State Archives of New South Wales, 3rd Edition 2000.